Dear Lord Erinaceus or to whom it may concern,
At this time, 3:03 post meridiem, 07-33-2644, we have found the location of the old legend of the Monument, and have been attempting to open it and discover what lay inside. Many have tried to open the Monument so far, myself included, but nothing has come. There is a metal plack plaque with words inscribed on it, yet we are unable to find most of its meaning. We have a hint, and we are bringing them to the location as I write this. I hope this information finds you well, and we sub-ordinates of the Exporine kingdom will willingly serve you forevermore. A new era has the possibility of beginning.
Sincerely, Guardsman 113, Devonik
“Take this to Lord Erinaceus at once.” Commanded one porcupine to another, a new messenger who had arrived. This one was different from the first, who had been told to bring the beast to this location.
“Yes!” Moments before, the messenger had given the guard, Devonik, a pawful of Atropa leaves in case the beast were to become rowdy. The messenger disappeared down through the small thicket of brush, and the porcupine stood, just as he had been for hours alongside the other two guards.
While they had been waiting, the winds rustled the leaves, creating the familiar swishing sound all around them, and the sunlight broke into fragments onto the ground through the trees, sometimes breaking off into their eyes, to which they would reposition themselves. Devonik had insisted he wrote the letter, as the his cohorts were duller and would misspell more words than he had. He regretted not restarting after misspelling just one, and the messenger had helped him spell “meridiem.” Devonik knew many things couldn’t be perfect, but as he had been told many times, for Lord Erinaceus they should be. His mind was lost in itself, thinking what trouble he would be in once he were to return. Now, as the porcupine kept thinking to himself... now he had an excuse to not leave his post. To simply stand and stare, to wait and to think.
As pounded the bar against the ceiling, butting it against the area where the pinhole shone. His talons were sore and hardened, yet with no guards present, it was only more motivation to enact, more motivation to complete his goal as quickly as possible, more motivation to save Wayne. After hours, over days of knocking at the wall to freedom, it happened. The mortar had been cracked on all side for some time, yet it finally cracked open under the weight of what it was trying to hold. As dodged the large falling rock, and it landed on the floor with and ear-shattering THUD. As saw the sky, and it looked more blue than he had ever seen it. The clouds looked soft, as if he could touch them, and the birds made music that made him want to soar. Reaching his arms out to the low ceiling, he could lift himself up and though the narrow hole, peeking his head out and seeing the moss covered roof, brightly glowing from the sunlight, the air pushing its way through his facial feathers. And his eyes widened. And he was free.
Angry voices of others rose from below. As ducked, listening to the pleas of every other inmate who was there through no wrongdoing of their own, and he was torn. It was if a clock he started to tick as soon as Wayne had left, crunching him for time, and though he knew he needed to head out steadfast, he felt the need to help, for and when he helped Wayne, he would regret not helping many faces who begged for it.
Remembering it now, there was a small window next to the entrance to the cell keep, and he knew the keys were always hanging alongside the wall as well. Going back through the ceiling, he climbed fully onto the roof, walking his way to where the window would be underneath him. Shimmying and lowering himself down to the top of the window, As carefully re-entered the jail, the occupants becoming ecstatic. As unlocked his own cell, and one by one did so for the rest, every animal clumping in a group, following him around. As wondered if they did this out of respect or curiosity, instead of making a mad dash for his cell to escape. In a minute’s time, every cell was ajar, and As ran, ran to the place he knewhe needed to be. Out.
Standing, the owl needed some sort of a still breeze to fly, or a running start for today. The wind was mild, and he had a feeling he knew where they had taken his friend. With an exhilarating start, he threw his body off of the edge, and he felt the current through his wings and rushing past his body, and it came back to him naturally. Now, soaring above the trees, he kept an ear out, and kept out of sight of any passerbys. Flying a few hundreds of meters, his head snapped to something—the ruckus of maniacal voices. His suspicions had been right as for his sense of direction, following a large trail which branched off several times into footpaths. He couldn’t have considered himself any more lucky.
Wayne had given up in trying to retaliate. Allowing his feet to be drug though the hard dirt, he settled on malicious compliance, making his captors do the legwork for him. There were two on either side of him, with three more tailing behind in a group.
“C’mon! Pick yer feet up!” One of the porcupines yelled, looking right at him. This one was clearly the leader, and Wayne knew by his bossy attitude and his comically large belt he had equipped.
Wayne didn’t bother replying, and instead opted for a smile.
“Alright, that’s it! Pick ‘em up fully!”
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“But, sir, -e’s ‘eavy!”
“An’ so are you! Now do it!”
Soon enough, Wayne was suspended, his torso weighed down in the middle. The two were now front to back instead of beside one another.
“You fuckers...” Wayne muttered.
The porcupine at his arms actually responded to him, “We don’t wan’na do this, mate... We ‘ave to.”
“Don’t tell him that!” The same bossy one inserted himself into the eavesdropping, huffing, “If this doesn’t work, I’m gon’na be so pissed!”
“You’re telling me?” Wayne piped up again.
“Shut up!”
“If what doesn’t work?”
“We can do this the hard way...” The guard revealed a baton he had kept hidden behind his body, fastened to the belt, “Or the really hard way.”
“Maybe you can break my limbs for me? Then I won’t be any use to you.”
The leader gritted their teeth. He could only afford to break their legs, and their pleasure would only he half satisfied.
After some time, the front one called out eagerly. “’Ey, boss, we’re ‘ere!”
“Alright, get him ready.”
Wayne was once again held by just his arms, refusing to cooperate. The trees became skinnier and more compact, with bunches of leaves on the ground being flung up by the walking animals as they pushed through the brush. Wayne saw the Warden standing proud, anticipating his arrival.
“You?!”
“Yes, Kevin, I found it! We need you!”
Wayne rolled his eyes, finished with the charade, “That’s not my name.”
Somewhat taken aback, The Warden asked, “Oh, really? This whole time you’ve been lyin’ to me?” He scoffed, “Well, what is your name?”
“I’m not telling you that.”
“Alright... Suit yourself... We still need you to do a little somethin’ for us.”
Wayne wanted to say ‘You think I want to do anything for you?’, but he condensed it to a single word.
“No.”
Even though Wayne’s mind was made up, his body tugged at the others next to him. A loose attempt at breaking away, the violence of each tug rising over the span of just a few seconds. The Warden observed this, and would need to bend it around to his advantage.
“Wha-... After all the time we’ve been together, you don’t wan’na help a friend out?” Wayne stayed silent, his brow furrowed, “I was hoping you’d cooperate. I don’t wan’na do anything I don’t need to...” His voice sounded sarcastic with its swinging inflections. Alright, boys. Use it...”
Wayne’s head was grabbed and jerked backwards, while something large was shoved deep into his mouth with dirty fingers. He tried to spit it out, but the leaves only stuck to his tongue and lining the inside of his mouth, and then the tingling started. He knew instantly what they were trying to do. Just as that weasel Evic had done. Wayne’s struggle grew exponentially, with one of the porcupines losing their hold on him, allowing him to escape.
However, he just ended up falling.
In a measly attempt, the porcupine who had slipped up jumped on top of Wayne, making Wayne have the air knocked out of him heavily, practically crushing his ribs. His arms were pinned by the now massive amount of weight across his back, and he gagged. Gagged for air, gagged to get the poison out of him, gagged for freedom... but it was in vein. Suddenly, his eyes began drooping, and his breathes became more shallow. He felt his heart rate drop in his chest, beating slower and slower, and his body proceeded to go numb, not a pins a needles numb, but a dull, loss-of-circulation numb. He grew lightheaded, and surely... much to his disappointment in himself, his pride, his willpower, and for all he knew his life... he drifted to sleep, as if he had drunk the tea that he so badly needed to calm him.
Save me from this terrible nightmare.